Thomas Merton's Correspondence

Merton Corpus and Bellarmine Merton Collection

Thomas Merton's Correspondence with: Magner, James Edmund, Jr., 1928-

Descriptive Summary

Scope and Content: 

Early letters in the collection are mostly from Merton and discuss arrangements to send some of his poetry to various publications with which Magner is involved. There is an undated poem which Magner has written and sends to Merton. Also, Merton's response to this or another poem in 1968 is a critique of one of Magner's poems but also gives some personal encouragement and spiritual advice.

Biographical Statement

James Edmund Magner Jr. was a poet and professor at John Carroll University in Ohio. He grew up in New York. In his early years, he helped underprivileged children, taught boxing and worked at a newspaper before serving in the United States Infantry from 1948-1951. After suffering a wounded knee in the Korean War, he returned to the United States and spent time at monasteries in New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. He was a Passionist seminarian for five years before leaving to earning a degree at the University of Pittsburgh. He continued his graduate work at Pittsburgh, earning his doctorate in 1966. He has published eight volumes of poetry. (Source: "James Magner Jr. Collection." Website of the Ohio University Library Archives and Special Collections. Accessed 3 Nov. 2005. ‹http://www.library.ohiou.edu/libinfo/depts/archives/mss/mss062.htm›.) 

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Series List

This Record Sub-Group is not divided into Series and is arranged chronologically.

Container List

Note: "TM" stands for Thomas Merton, see Abbreviations page. Dates are in yyyy/mm/dd format.
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